HYGIENE IN THE ARMY. 



509 



sauerkraut, and other vegetables are made, 

 whenever the medical officers consider them 

 necessary for the health of the troops. "When- 

 ever it 'is practicable for the troops to bake 

 their own bread, flour is issued, and as the 

 amount of bread thus produced would be ex- 

 cessive for a ration, the surplus flour is resold 

 to Government at cost, and a company fund 

 formed, which is used for the purchase of such 

 additional articles of food or comfort as may 

 be desired. In time of peace, company gar- 

 dens are cultivated at every military post, and 

 furnish an abundant supply of fresh vegetables. 



The ration is somewhat in excess of the wants 

 of the soldiers, and it is a very general custom 

 in the army for the companies to sell back a 

 portion of it which is unconsumed, to the com- 

 missary, and from the company fund thus form- 

 ed, obtain milk, fruits, or other luxuries. 



It is evidence of the sufficiency and good 

 _uality of this ration, that with the exceptions 

 presently to be mentioned, there has been lit- 

 tle or no tendency to scurvy in the army, and 

 no indications of insufficient alimentation. In 

 the case of the army in the Department of the 

 South, in Folly and Morris Islands in the sum- 

 mer of 1863, there was for some time difficulty 

 in obtaining a full supply of some articles com- 

 prised in the ration, especially the fresh meat 

 and vegetables, and the quality of the biscuit 

 was poor, partly probably from the sea voyage ; 

 the men were meanwhile exposed to extraor- 

 dinary fatigue, and severe labor, and though few 

 cases of clearly defined scurvy appeared, there 

 were cachetic symptoms in connection with the 

 disease which prevailed. To the extraordinary 

 and humane efforts of the Sanitary Commission, 

 in providing ice, lemons, oranges, lime juice, 

 potatoes, onions, and other anti-scorbutics in 

 large quantities, and furnishing them freely to 

 the men, is unquestionably due the preservation 

 of that army from scurvy, in its worst forms. 

 Gen. Grant's army, during the siege of Yicks- 

 burg, was in a similar condition of danger ; the 

 salt beef and hard tack, which, for a time, con- 

 stituted their principal food, from the difficulty 

 of transportation, proving insufficient to main- 

 tain the men in sound health under the severe 

 labors of the siege. Here again the hospital 

 visitors of the Sanitary Commission discovered 

 the danger of scurvy; and potatoes, onions, 

 sauerkraut, &c., were sent forward in immense 

 quantities, and with the best possible effect. 

 There was a similar danger for a time at Chat- 

 tanooga, after the battle of Chickamauga, and at 

 Knoxville daring the siege, the men subsisting 

 for some weeks on half rations ; but with the 

 removal of the obstructions to transportation, 

 and the returning abundance, the cause for 

 alarm passed away. In the Confederate army 

 scurvy and cachectic diseases have prevailed in 

 several instances with great malignity, and the 

 insufficiency of the rations has been indicated 

 painfully in the low grade of febrile action, 

 which has prevailed in their camps. 



The last topic which we shall mention as ex- 



erting an influence upon the hygienic condition 

 of the army, is the clothing of the soldier. This 

 is a matter of importance in relation to its suffi- 

 ciency in protecting from cold, in guarding the 

 body against excessive heat, in permitting the 

 free use of the limbs, and in rendering the 

 man a more or less conspicuous mark for the 

 fire of the enemy. The sudden changes and 

 rapid transition from cold to heat, and from 

 heat to cold in the climate of the United States, 

 render woollen clothing preferable to any other 

 for army use, though for a short time in the 

 summer, in the Southern departments, cotton, 

 duck or jeans might be used with advantage. 

 The color of the clothing, experience has fully 

 settled, should be light blue, or gray, and for 

 the purpose of being less distinctly seen by 

 the sharpshooters of the enemy, red, which 

 had at the beginning of the war been adopted 

 by some regiments, proves more objectionable 

 than any other color. The Tcepi or small cap 

 is preferable to most other forms of head- 

 gear, though the soft hat is not without some 

 advantages, and the tarloosh or turban of the 

 Zouaves is valuable as a protection from the 

 direct rays of the sun. The neck, if covered at 

 all, should only have the lightest and loosest of 

 coverings. The trousers should be loose and 

 full, and the shoes broad and long enough for 

 easy walking. Gaiters of linen, woollen, or 

 leather, are advantageous, supporting the leg 

 and preventing varicose veins. 



It is owing to the care and persistence with 

 which these various hygienic measures have 

 been urged upon the army, and the great pains 

 which have been taken to instruct and train the 

 army surgeons, and nurses in the hospitals for 

 their duties, that the army of the United 

 States, composed almost wholly of volunteers, 

 whose whole mode of life has been changed 

 by their new vocations, the greater part of 

 them entirely ignorant of the laws of health, 

 with surgeons who had, for the most part, no 

 previous training in military medicine or sur- 

 gery, and many of whom were utterly unfitted 

 for their duties, has maintained a lower sick 

 rate, as well as a lower rate of mortality than 

 any other army in modern times. This result 

 has been reached too, while the regions in 

 which the army has been stationed have in 

 general been exceedingly unhealthy to the un- 

 acclimated, quite as insalubrious as any part of 

 Spain, Portugal, or the Crimea. The attain- 

 ment of so gratifying a result is due in a great 

 degree to the U. S. Sanitary Commission, 

 which, by its careful, regular and special med- 

 ical inspections of every army corps, and all 

 the hospitals, has promptly detected any vio- 

 lations of hygienic laws, and taken measures 

 to correct them ; has published brief medical 

 and surgical tracts from the pens of the ablest 

 military physicians in this country and Europe, 

 and placed copies in the hands of every army 

 assistant surgeon and medical cadet in the ar- 

 my ; has trained many of the best nurses for 

 camp, field, and hospital; has provided anti- 



